Avengers Assemble!!
Oh crap, they’re not here!!
New Avengers. Assemble!!
Sonofa—they’re scattered all over.
Now what? Thanos is attacking; a member of his cruelty brigade has convinced the purple- faced nemesis to allow a full on assault of New York City. To paraphrase Ray Parker Jr., “Who ya gonna call?”
The Mighty Avengers!!!
Wait, who?
Okay, here’s the scoop. With all the Avengers either off-planet or doing other things, Earth is suddenly without its greatest fighting force (no offense, X-Men). Cue The Mighty Avengers, which is really Heroes For Hire under a much more profitable banner. The story opens with Luke Cage, White Tiger, and the new (and annoying) Power Man taking on a villain named Parnival. In the middle of their battle, Superior Spider-Man drops in, kicks some villain ass, and manages to give a lecture to Luke Cage about being a true hero, not one for hire. It’s weird hearing Doc Ock lecture anybody on heroics, but it actually works here.
The lecture from Spidey inspires White Tiger to quit and seek out better, more rewarding superhero acts. As Iron Fist and Luke Cage argue the validity of Spider-Man’s claims, along comes Spectrum, a woman of pure light and power. She’s testing out a new suit, and stopping some crime. Returning to her tailor, we learn of a shadowy figure that has come to ask Spectrum’s help. No ID on the shadowy hero by the issues end, but he/she does add some hilarity by donning a cheap Spider-Man suit and entering the fight as The Splendiferous Spider Hero.
Luke Cage, Spider Man, Spider Hero and Power Man stand before the attacking Thanos party. If there are no other Avengers, at least the Mighty Avengers can stand up for us. Writer Al Ewing does the best he can with what he has. Attempting to rev up excitement for a book centered on mostly C-list players is tough. Using Spider-Man and Luke Cage helps, as does Ewing’s sense of humor. I have no idea if Mighty Avengers has taken over Heroes For Hire forever, or if this is just an Infinity thing. I’m going to assume the former.
Greg Land pencils the book and, while not everybody is smiling like a smug cunt (the Greg Land staple), there is some of that. The entire scene between Spectrum and her tailor is cunt-smiles all around. Land is a competent artist, just not very exciting. Character faces are usually forced into reactions all the time, the shading is more often than not dull and, overall, Land can communicate the action, but not involve you with it.
(3 Story, 2 Art)
